1.Berlin: The Games of the XI Olympiad were held in Berlin, Germany, between August 1 and 16, 1936, during the government of Adolf Hitler. 49 countries participated, counting 3963 athletes. 19 sports and 129 disciplines were developed. The star athlete was Jesse Owens, American runner. The Nazcist leader took advantage of the show to propagandize his ideology. The games were held on a tense political atmosphere. Spain boycotted these Games and did not participate. United States had the same intention but finally was part of the event. Spain organized the Popular Olympiad in Barcelona, but was suspended for starting the Civil War the day before the opening of these games.
2.Munich: The twentieth Olympic Games were held in Munich in 1972. 23 sports were developed in which 7134 athletes competed. While the games were taking place, a terrorist act occurred in which eight Palestinians murdered two Israeli athletes taking also 9 hostages to demand, in return, the release of Palestinian prisoners. The event ended in tragedy because after the rescue attempt the hostages, 5 terrorists and a German police were killed. As a result the games were postponed for 24 hs but then they continued normally. Only a few athletes leaved the village.
Some curious facts: the pet of the event was Waldi, a dachshund. The outstanding athlete was Mark Spitz, making history by getting seven gold medals in his discipline, swimming. The USSR was the country to get more medals, followed by the United States.
3.China: The games of the XXIX Olympiad took place in Beijing, the capital city of China. They are considered the most expensive ones, exceeding 44 million dollars. The problems they faced were due to the contamination that characterizes the city and accusations of violation of human rights. In relation to this last event, the world community requested not to mix political issues with sport. The boycott intentions were not carried out.
The pets are a group of children called “Fuwa” and their names mean in mandarin Chinese: Welcome to Beijing.
Some curious facts: the swimmer Michael Phelps, representative of the United States, broke the previous mark of the country getting 8 gold medals. The Jamaican runners, Usain Bolt, was the one who achieved the world record. And in Taekwondo, Rohullah Nikpai won the first bronze medal for Afghanistan.
4.Mexico City: The nineteenth Olympic Games were held in Mexico in 1986. The participation of South Africa for its racist policies was forbidden. For the first time West and East Germany competed as separate countries and nations such as El Salvador, Honduras, Kuwait and Paraguay, among others debuted for the first time. Additionally, it was the first time that a developing country was hosting the event.
On policy issues, the student movement, tired of being imposed on a model that they considered old and disconnected from their reality, made a claim that ended in tragedy 10 days before the opening, causing the death of dozens of people.
Likewise, some doubt was generated regarding the fact that the altitude did not affect the athletes' capacity. To counteract this, Mexico undertook three previous competitions estimating a necessary acclimatization period of 6 to 8 days.
For the first time in the history of the Olympics the torch was lit by a woman, the Mexican runner Enriqueta Basilio.
Tommie Smith and John Carlos made the salute of black power, in protest of black civil rights in the United States.
5.Moscow: the twenty-second Olympic Games were held in Moscow, the capital of Soviet Union. The United States carried out a boycott in protest against the invasion of the USSR by Afghanistan and was accompanied by 60 countries that did not participate in the Olympics. Some countries participated in parading with the olympic bulge, they called the movement a Western blockade. The international sports federations protested the pressure of the United States and other countries sympathetic to the boycott, which were qualified as an inappropriate measure to achieve a political goal, and that athletes would be victims of these actions. Anyway, despite this, the event was highlighted by sports facilities and great athletes.
6.Los Angeles: They were criticized for being totally solved with private capital but they offered unprecedented results from the financial point of view. To increase profitability and minimize the cost reused installations made previously.
In retaliation for the boycott that took place four years earlier on the Olympic Games in Moscow, the USSR and almost the entire Soviet bloc decided not to participate.
The absence of these countries influenced the results of many disciplines. These countries organized the games of friendship in June of the same year.
The olympic eagle was the mascot of the games organized in 1984 Carl Lewis was the highlighted athlete The first paraplegic Neroli Fairhall, from New Zealand participated in the competition.
